As any teacher knows, all students handle information differently. Some are verbal processors, while others think better if they are given the opportunity to write about their ideas. For students who might not do as well sharing their thoughts in a large group setting, free writing gives them an opportunity to form their opinion and organize their knowledge.

Why use it?Free writing engages all students, not just those comfortable speaking in front of their peers. It is a great "bell-ringer" activity, and gets students settled and thinking about the lesson for the day.

How do I use it? "The important thing in free writing is to continually produce words. Students should not worry about written mechanics or structure as they write thoughts in whatever order they come."

For a basic free write, you can use this prompt:"For the next 5 minutes, write whatever you know about [subject or theme of reading]."

Variations of this prompt include:

A list of new vocabulary words from the reading (instead of subject or theme)

"For the next 5 minutes, write about everything you can remember about what we learned [yesterday/last week/last unit]."

"For the next 5 minutes, write about everything you would like to know about [subject or theme of reading]."

Tips for using this strategy:

If students are not used to writing in your class, start with two minutes instead of five (or even just one minute). If you are introducing a new unit, feel free to have your students write for up to ten minutes (but try not to go longer than that).

Playing music softly in the background is a good way to stimulate thinking, and serves as a good sensory reminder that it is time to free write (if done repeatedly).

If students complain that they don't know what to write, have them write, "I don't know what to write," until they figure out what they want to say.